The Arborfield Apprentice
(Peter Gripton)
The Arborfield Apprentice by Peter Gripton
How do you create a soldier? The recipe is in Peter Gripton's book, ?The Arborfield Apprentice?. The Foreword, written by the Honorable Viscount Alanbrooke of Brookborough, sums it up well with the dictum, "that which is written without pain will be read without pleasure". Peter has taken care to write a readable book that its readers will enjoy.
Peter was in Intake 56B and I was in 55A, but our paths never crossed. ?The Arborfield Apprentice? will interest anyone with a taste for military history. It deals smoothly with the creation of a system to train first-class tradesmen, skilled in maintaining military armaments and equipment, from small arms through large weaponry to the most sophisticated radar.
The author captures the essence of the Army apprentice life, beginning with the Prologue. From the outset of reading this book, I saw again the spider blocks and the wooden billets, while the pungent smell of Blanco, Brasso and boot polish came wafting back to me. The history of the apprentices? training scheme begins with the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and ends with the final discontinuation of the system in 2004.
The book, with its 508 pages, is not one to take to bed, but that doesn't detract from its worth as a serious study of the apprentice training scheme. It is well stocked with anecdotal as well as factual material. This mix helps make the book more than a dry history. It has life, humour and well emphasises the human side of the scheme, as well as including an interesting selection of illustrations.
This book is well organised, well written and well worth reading. As one who went through Arborfield, I am proud to have been part of this history. It is also a fitting piece of history to pass on to my children and grandchildren.
John C. Moss Arborfield ex-Boy Soldier 1955A
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